Plugged in

As we further research our documentary topic, we have to watch an example! I found a documentary that was released in 2019 called "Plugged in: The True Toxicity of Social Media Revealed," which focuses on the negative health affects social media has on our younger generation.

"'People need a hard break from some of these tools,' says one of the film's interview subjects. It's a question of survival. Evidence suggests that the frequent use of social media platforms alienates us from physical social interactions, heightens our feelings of insecurity, and has had a profound impact on the rates of depression, anxiety and suicide around the world, especially among adolescents." 

One thing that popped out to me was the answers given by the teenagers interviewed, meaning that there were good questions asked. For example, many girls were giving their personal experiences on what social media has done to their self confidence after they scroll on feeds. I want to make sure my partner and I have solid and emotional questions in order to get answers in our own documentary like they did. This will help develop the purpose that social media is bad for ones' mental health. 

My partner and I also liked how every interview was indirect. This technique gives the viewer a sense of realism since they cannot hear the question that is being asked. We are definitely using this approach.

"Plugged In" utilizes graphics as their introduction to the documentary before the title card. They state statistics on the various negative affects of social media like depression/anxiety, as well as eating disorders. Dio and I may want to incorporate this technique between the interviews in our own doc in order to show how dangerous social media is and to keep the narration going throughout the five minutes.

Narration that was used here is also an option for Dio and I. This was used a lot throughout this documentary as a tool to deepen the emotional effect on the audience. Many b-roll was used as well. I have never used narration before since I do not like hearing my voice (oops!) but my partner and I still have to discuss this!

The only problem that I am worried about is who to interview as the "professional" or "adult" source. Maybe a teacher? or a parent? I think I am leaning towards parents since most of them live with their teenager and could explain how they see the negativity of social media affect their own child.

Watching "Plugged in: The True Toxicity of Social Media Revealed" 100% felt like a step forward in the right direction; it is a great example of the message we want to convey. Hopefully I can find more like this!